


Requiem for a Dream

by Wix



Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Gen, Magic, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Team Dynamics, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 14:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15438627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wix/pseuds/Wix
Summary: Everything is as it's supposed to be...right?





	Requiem for a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> I miss the easy days of one-shots. So just another one shot for you all! 
> 
> This was just a quick idea that hit me and so I typed it up. Enjoy!

Peeling himself out of the armor isn’t always as easy as it might seem to the outside world. Sure, he designed the suit to come off in ideal and slightly less than ideal situations, but having a whole panel curve inwards far enough to press into the skin is certainly not anyone’s definition of an ideal situation.

Or if it is, that person might need to talk with someone about that.

Tony grits his teeth as the final plates come away and he’s stuck looking at the dark red blood on the edge of the metal inlay. He glances down and takes a look, and lets out a soft sigh of relief. Barely a few millimeters into the skin, superficial at best and hardly a concern at worst.

Letting out a soft sigh, Tony reaches for the first aid kit that Dum-E is holding out for him. He briefly considers the benefit of just sucking it up and getting a medical degree if he’s always going to be patching himself up alone in his lab, but he pushes the idea to the wayside the moment he has it. He barely has time to sleep or eat these days, where the hell is he going to find the time to do a full course load with SI projects and Avengers projects getting dumped in his lap left and right?

“FRI? Where are the others?” Tony asks as he rips the gauze with his teeth and starts to wrap the patch.

 ** _‘They’re in the common room Boss.’_** FRIDAY responds and Tony nods.

“What do you think the chances are that I get some work done around here before they start calling?” Tony inquires, sending up a rueful smile at the cameras.

 ** _‘Unlikely.’_** She replies. **_‘They are already discussing possible celebratory movie choices.’_**

“Great. Any way you think I can get them to order in Chinese? Today feels like a greasy Chinese food day.”

**_‘They are already discussing pizza topping choices. Shall I tell them you’ll be ordering Chinese?’_ **

“No, just…just get what they want. I’ll grab a slice of whatever they’re having. I’m easy, you know that.” Tony says as he packs up the supplies. He barely gets a chance to put it away before the intercom is echoing through the lab area.

 _“Tony, get your ass up here.”_ Clint’s voice comes over loud and clear. Tony lets out a soft sigh as he goes to run his hand through his hair in habit and bites back a pained hiss as it tugs at the newly wrapped wound.

“Intercom on – I’m on my way.” Tony says, snagging a tablet as he steps into the elevator and makes it to the main room. He can hear them all the way down the hallway, laughing and retelling the highlights of the last fight. It sounds so friendly and so inviting and Tony wonders what’s wrong with him that he finds himself standing outside the entrance, taking a few moments to settle himself and catch his breath before he plasters on his fake press smile (should he just start calling it his fake Avengers smile? It feels like he uses it more frequently these days for the second option rather than the first) and he walks in with a sure step that gives nothing away.

He knows better than to show the damage. It only ever comes with one of two results: Cap’s disappointed ‘why are you such a cowboy’ routine or the ‘if you just followed orders or knew how to be a _team player_ instead of catering to your _ego_ that probably wouldn’t have happened’. He’d rather avoid both eventualities if absolutely possible.

Which should be easy enough. They never really looked close enough to see beyond his masks when he was still strong enough to keep them up.

“So what are we watching?” Tony asks, pitching his voice into something light and airy. Several eyes turn to him and he pretends not to feel the Witch’s gaze, the feeling of dark shadows chasing him and just waiting to devour him the moment everyone turned their backs.

He was actually impressed that he was still alive and fully functioning all things considered. Clearly Wanda was still under the impression that the Avengers would do more than a slap to the wrist if she took out their meal ticket.

Or perhaps they just didn’t feel like paying for the eight pizza’s and the electric bill themselves. That was another possibility.

“What’s it matter? Sit your ass down Stark, Cap wants you present.” Clint tells him and Tony just holds his hands up in surrender as he walks over to his favorite chair. He’s not surprised in the slightest when Wanda sits down in it before he can get to it and stretches herself across it like a despot on a throne that doesn’t belong to them. She gives him a challenging little smirk and he just sighs inwardly as he moves to go sit somewhere else.

He ends up on the second couch with Thor and he regrets it the rest of the time when Thor can’t help but bounce around and move – and _jostle_ Tony around with him over and over again. Tony grits his teeth the next time it happens as he starts mentally counting down how much longer until the movie ends. He glances up when he feels eyes on him and he sees Natasha taking him in, no doubt noticing the stiff and pained reactions and Tony just gives her a winning smile – and like clockwork she rolls her eyes and looks back at the television screen, no longer interested in anything going on with the billionaire.

Once he thought they could be a family.

Those days were gone from him.

Now he just feels like an unwanted third wheel and the unappreciated landlord. If it weren’t for the dreams that still plague him at night – of an army deep in space coming for them all – Tony wonders if he’d still be here, playing house and playing nice with these people.

He hopes the answer is no.

+++

“Wanda needs that upgrade as soon as possible Tony.” Steve says, crossing his arms with a frustrated and tired look on his face. “Her body armor isn’t cutting it in the field.”

“I’m working on it Steve. I’ve just got a few things that I need to get done for SI and then I’ll take another look at it.” Tony tells him and Steve gives him such a disappointed look.

“Wanda’s _life_ is on the line. That seems a little more important than some cellphone upgrade don’t you think?” Steve scolds and Tony wants to say how that ‘unimportant cellphone upgrade’ is what _keeps_ all of them in upgrades themselves and keeps the light on but he bites his tongue. He knows that argument goes nowhere and he’s not looking forward to slamming his head against a brick wall by the name of Steve Rogers.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

+++

“I don’t know if we should be watching ‘I Robot’.” Clint says with a cruel sort of laugh. “Stark might start feeling the need to create his own Vicki and I don’t know about you but one Stark Murder Bot is enough for a lifetime.” The others snort with laughter before hiding it horribly behind their hands and not-so-subtle looks to each other.

“We’ll watch something else.” Steve says with a smile thrown in Tony’s direction and Tony struggles to match it.

_Oh yeah, so funny guys. Ha ha. You’re all a riot._

+++

“Why weren’t you there?” Steve snaps at him the second they get on the plane and Tony lets the helmet retract.

“I was handling the-” Tony starts to explain and Steve cuts him off.

“Natasha _needed_ you. She needed you to be where you were supposed to be not rushing off to go play hero.” Steve tells him, getting into his space and Tony internally counts down from five.

“ _Playing_ hero is all Stark’s good for.” Wanda says just loud enough to be heard and quiet enough to pretend that she was whispering it.

He starts counting down from five again.

“Like I was saying, I had to deal with-”

“This isn’t some one man show Tony.” Steve continues. “We’re a _team_.”

“Or at least we’re supposed to be.” Sam adds oh so helpfully, always the faithful echo of Steve.

“The building was coming down and there were civilians in the cross-” Tony tries again and Clint snorts.

“Oh don’t try to pretend now that you gave a damn about the civilians or about Nat. You just wanted the cameras to see you.” He tells him, fussing over Nat’s sprained wrist and Tony almost wants to reach up and tug at his own hair.

“Why would I need the cameras to see me? I’m on them practically twenty-four-seven, I don’t really need it.” He tries to point out, but somehow it’s the wrong thing to say because everyone rolls their eyes or huffs and walks away from him like he’s just far too much trouble to deal with right now.

“Sure Stark, whatever you need to tell yourself.” Clint says and Tony looks at the two ex-SHIELD agents and they both shake their heads and look away from him.

He should have flown home on his own.

+++

“You’re a murderer Stark.” Wanda growls at him from the shadows when he goes to get coffee at five in the morning after pulling an all-nighter working on her new armor.

“I guess that would be quite the compliment coming from someone with such a prolific career herself in that – if it were true.” Tony fires back, his brain to mouth filter not really working and he’s not surprised in the slightest when he finds himself on the ground a few feet away from where he was, with a broken mug shattered all around him and the air knocked from his lungs.

“Why would you say something like that to Wanda?” Steve scolds him later and Tony just sighs, rubbing his hand over his face and biting his tongue.

“Ghee, I wonder.” He mutters softly to himself and he knows that Steve doesn’t hear him. Steve’s too busy going off on one of his ‘holy righteous rants’ to actually _listen_ to anything Tony has to say.

+++

He’s not really sure what they’re going off about this time. He’s just walked in but clearly ‘Tony Stark the Devil™’ has struck again. They’ve been going off for a while now, something about how they don’t like it when he gets in front of things without telling them about it but also how could he _not_ get in front of this problem – why is he being so difficult and lashing out at them? The ridiculousness of them having their cake and eating it too doesn’t seem to stop them at all and Tony just wants it to be over so he can go down into his lab and pretend that this day is over.

“Tony?” A new voice says and everyone stops in their rants to look at the group standing in the room with them. It’s the Avengers – Sam, Steve, Natasha, Clint and Wanda – alongside some strange man in a red cape.

“What is going on?” Steve asks, all of the Avengers preparing for a fight and Tony just isn’t in it when he pulls out the wrist gauntlet.

“I don’t get it?” New Clint says, looking around in confusion. “Nothing’s changed? It’s just like it used to be?”

“Why did we all get trapped in our worst nightmares and Stark just gets to relive the glory days?” New Sam asks, crossing his arms and Tony can’t help but feel uncomfortable under the scrutiny of both groups.

“Tony.” The man in the cape holds out his hand. “We’re here to get you out of here. This isn’t real.”

“Looks pretty real to me.” Tony tells him.

“It’s a spell, you were attacked by Loki, do you remember this?” He asks, his gaze unwavering and unflinching.

 _“The whole team is here, happy times all around. I hear you’ve had a falling out. How about some team building exercises? Midgardians love that don’t they?”_ He remembers Loki…he remembers Loki doing _something_.

“Who are you?” Tony asks and the man gets a small smile.

“My name is Stephen Strange. I’m an Avenger and I’m here to get you all out of this realm.” Stephen says and that name resonates with Tony for some reason.

“Realm?” Tony asks and he nods.

“This is the Nightmare Realm. You were banished here by Loki during your fight with him.” Stephen motions to the area around them. “All of this isn’t real, it’s just a recreation of your worst nightmare.”

“This isn’t a nightmare, it’s a fucking spa.” New Clint snaps.

“You’re wrong Barton.” Stephen says. “This is firmly in the Realm of Nightmares.”

“But this isn’t a nightmare.” New Steve says with so much confusion on his face. “It’s just the Avengers before the Accords.”

“To _you_ it might not have been a nightmare, but clearly this reality wasn’t created to suit you.” Stephen tells him with a kind of dismissive tone as he holds out his hand for Tony. “Come, take my hand and I’ll be able to get you all out of here.”

“And go where?” Tony asks, a kind of despair winding through him. “They’re out there, they’re in here, where does it matter where I go? I can’t get away from them. I can’t do anything _right_.” Stephen takes a careful step forward. “Nothing I do is enough, it’s never enough. What does it matter where I am?”

“Tony, listen to my voice please. This is the Nightmare Realm feeding on you. I promise you, this isn’t how it is anymore.” Stephen says and he says it with such conviction that Tony almost wants to believe it. “You have a new team. One that respects you and what you bring to the table. One that’s very worried and wants you back.”

“Now I know you’re lying.” Tony says with a soft, pained huff. “They could never want me.” He says, motioning to the New Avengers.

“They’re not part of this team. Loki got you all, but it was only because we were attempting to corral them and he caught us off guard. I promise you Tony, what’s out there – what’s waiting for you is so much more than this.” He looks Tony right in the eyes. “ _You_ are so much more than this.” He says before he stops in front of him and holds out his hand again. Tony tilts his head a little and he figures ‘why the hell not? Rogers is going to yell at me either way. YOLO’ before he reaches out and takes the hand offered.

He blinks his eyes open against the harsh lights of the medical wing in the Compound as he takes a harsh breath in.

“Tony!” Carol says, immediately coming over and taking his hand and the rest of his team rushes over.

“He’s awake!” Danny says, and Tony looks at all of them before he sees Stephen.

“Are you alright?” Stephen asks and Tony gives him a small smile.

“I’m better now.” He tells him as he looks around the room at his family. “Everything’s better now.”


End file.
